Climate catastrophes like the Alberta floods have the potential to shatter political careers

However, when there are a series of unusual catastrophes, it raises questions about the impact that carbon-dioxide emissions are having on the planet.

This year, two of those disasters have occurred in areas represented by North America's most intransigient climate-change-denying politicians.

Devastating tornadoes turned a suburb of Oklahoma into kindling.

Ironically, Oklahoma senator James Inhofe has been called "the standard-bearer for climate contrarians in Congress" by New York Times energy blogger Justin Gillis.

Inhofe even wrote a book called The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Our Future. Not surprisingly, he's been the beneficiary of massive campaign donations over the years from the fossil-fuel industry.

The junior senator from Oklahoma, Republican Tom Coburn, is another climate-change dinosaur. He voted against factoring global warming into federal project planning and opposed starting implementation of the Kyoto Protocol.

With Harper leading the nation, Canada routinely wins the most Fossil of the Year awards at international climate conferences—prizes that Harper's environment minister, Peter Kent, says should be "worn with honour".

Politics of climate change

All it takes is for one massive climate catastrophe to turn an election.

Hurricane Sandy did the trick for Barack Obama. It shone a light on Republican Mitt Romney's climate-change denial in the days leading up to the last U.S. presidential election.

In Australia, massive fires in 2006 and 2007 spelled the end of the climate-change-denying John Howard's prime ministership.

It's starting to look like Harper—who has copied a Howard speech and Howard's foreign policy—could find his political career smashed for the same reason.

The reality is climate change is all about the math. When greenhouse-gas levels reach a certain threshold in the atmosphere, weird things start happening on Earth.

To deny that is to deny that one plus one equals two.

Most voters can easily figure that out when they see their homes and motor vehicles floating down a river.

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Comments

34 Comments

MarkFornataro

Living under a dark cloud

Jun 21, 2013 at 10:47am

No climate change happening here says the PM. No worry over all those chemicals and coal burning getting that dirty tar sands to market helps bring on tears and floods. As even BC is under the weather as 6 months of rain turns into 12 months of the year. Old man Harper's climate denial ways have gone as far as shutting up Scientists which didn't work as climate change is biting at Alberta's heels. Living under a dark cloud is all the Dark Lord, Harper who has nothing else to offer. His own MPs call Harper the Dark Lord while Canadians call him their leader. But not for long, I want to see Nigel's cheque.

Danielle

Jun 21, 2013 at 11:30am

First off- my heart goes out to all those in Alberta, and worldwide who are dealing with environmental disasters.

I believe that climate change, while partially at fault of industrialized nations, is not all to blame on carbon emissions. Climate change is also cyclical and not just a random occurrence brought on by the westernized world and our ignorance and greed. However- that does not negate the necessity to reduce our carbon footprint (for lack of a better term) in the world we all live in today. Space is limited, resources are depleting, and our ever growing supposed needs are constantly increasing. This needs to be curbed.

However, I strongly believe that governmental decisions, viewpoints, stances and choices can be linked to an overwhelming urgency of natural disasters that are happening with more frequency around the world. Tarsands, fracking, mining, hydrodams, clear cuts…. I believe this statement sums up my frame of mind perfectly:

"By degrading forests, engineering rivers, filling in wetlands, and destabilizing the climate, we are unraveling the strands of a complex ecological safety net," said Senior Researcher and author of Unnatural Disasters Janet Abramovitz. "We have altered so many natural systems so dramatically, their ability to protect us from disturbances is greatly diminished."

Paul Beckwith

Jun 21, 2013 at 11:33am

Torrential rains in some regions are causing massive floods while in other locales record droughts are occurring with higher frequency and severity and areal extent around the globe. Global food production is being hit hard, leading to large price increases and political instability. Areas under drought are experiencing numerous massive forest fires of incredible ferocity. The statistics of extreme weather events has changed for the worst due to changes in the location, speed, and waviness of the jet streams which guide weather patterns and separate cold and dry northern air from warm and moist southern air. The jet streams have changed since the equator to north-pole temperature difference has decreased due to the huge temperature rise in the Arctic. The huge temperature rise in the Arctic is due to a collapse in the area of highly reflective snow and ice, which is caused by melting. The melting is from warming from the increase of greenhouse gases from fossil fuel burning. The Arctic sea ice and spring snow cover will vanish within a few years and the weather extremes will increase at least 10x. - Paul Beckwith, June 20th, 2013

What can you do? Go talk to you politicians and friends about climate change and the need to slash fossil fuel emissions. Immediately. Cut and paste my comments above and post them on facebook, send them to newspapers, and educate yourself on the science behind all the above linkages. Leave my name on or take it off and plagiarize all you want, just get this knowledge out there...

Very Original Charlie.

Jun 21, 2013 at 12:58pm

Civilizations have been using floods as a sign of the impending apocalypse for thousands of years. It's good to see Charlie is following a time, tested and true method of fear mongering. At least he added his own little topping of smugness for originality.

Evan Allen

Jun 21, 2013 at 1:11pm

I'm sorry but climate change is an evolution of the planet, we had an ice age didn't we?. Mix rain with melted snow from the mountains you get floods. Global warming was created to tax you, to make money off you. As preached in Agenda 21. Most scientist who speak the truth are shut up by money or by force. "Climate Change", the new term as Global Warming was outed as a scam so they just changed the name to what it really is. Scientist now tell us the GMO is good for you, Scientists are altering nature, Scientists are messing with Geo Engineering. Just got test any water source to see the unnatural levels of Iron in the waters. Food drought is not by climate change, it's Monsanto's GMO crop disasters, putting farmers out of business, forcing thousands to suicide every month. The seeds are designed to die after one harvest, they do not do what they were promised. These seeds without expensive irrigation and ridiculous amounts of pesticides just die. These pesticides also are killing off the bee population. Without bees, crops do not get pollinated. Without bees your food supply dies. People starve all over the world, not from lack of food in the world, but because they do not have access to it, or they can not afford it. Oklahoma has tornadoes every year. It's in Tornado Alley since 1950 Oklahoma has had 3472 of them. Extreme weather has always happened, we are just more aware of it due to what the media tells you and social networking. You build along the coast - You take your chances with tsunamis, usually brought on by earth quakes not Climate Change. You build a city along a river, when the river floods, so does your city. It's the chance you take. I'm still trying to figure out why Vegas winters are becoming colder and longer.. Must be getting hotter.. No. Perhaps the earth's access has shifted slightly, this would bring change. Yeah I'm all for not pumping carbon into the atmosphere. But Scientists trying to change Nature - Nature will fight you back and win. As for politicians. You know what really changes an election is having the federal courts find people guilty of election fraud and rigging like they did with the Conservatives and Steven Harpers election. Can't wait for the Matt Damon's Anti Fracking movie with funding from the middle east film company Image Nation Abu Dhabi. The Rain clouds are trapped by wind conditions, so moving very slow.

Calgary Sandy

Jun 21, 2013 at 1:18pm

I live in Calgary. I was born in Calgary. My great grandparents and all their friends and families homesteaded in Alberta in late 1800s. I am a green socialist. So are my friends and my son. While many people in Alberta are dangerous to the survival of life itself not everyone is. Alberta had a very good reputation on environmentalism until recently. Spitting abuse at the Premier and the oil industry is fair. Dumping all that hate on the citizens will not change anything other than alienate those who are on the side of the planet. Generalizations are just bigotry.

Evan

Jun 21, 2013 at 1:36pm

Climate Change is a natural evolution of the planet. We had an ice age did we not? Scientist have been preaching Gloabl Warming since the introduction of Agenda 21, look it up. Global Warming was proven a scam to tax the hell out of you. Hence why they call it Climate Change now. Scientist are paid for their backers interests, real Scientists who speak the truth are shut up with money or force. Scientists are also messing with 85% of the worlds food supply. Altering and mixing gene pools. Feeding the population ingredients meant to kill insects, create cancers, autism and many other diseases which never existed before the introduction of GMO foods in this world. People are not starving, there is no shortage of food, there is more than double for the world. People just don't have access to it, or can not afford it. Yes food production is going down, but not from drought, but from Monsanto's GE seeds which die after 1 harvest. Then require way more water than natural seeds, so farmers need new expensive irrigation systems, then they find out they must use a ridiculous amount of pesticides on their crops. This has bankrupted many farmers causing up to 1300 suicides a month in some countries. Killing off the bee population while they are at it which bee's are vital to pollination of crops. Without bee's no more food, yet.. we still spray the world's food supply in hasmat suits. Fracking - I can't wait to see the Matt Damon's anti-fracking film funded by Image Nation Abu Dahabi. We will be initiated with how bad fracking is based on the middle eastern oil companies protecting their oil production - hence staying reliant on their oil. As for this affecting politicians. Well how about the fact that the federal courts found the Harper Government guilty of conducting voter fraud by telling opposition voters that their voting station was moved to another location in which they were not. You would think that might effect a political career.